My Route from Australia to Germany

I was asked several times which route I was actually planning to take to drive the landcruiser back. The planning process wasn’t that simple regarding visa issues, entering foreign soil with your own vehicle and numerous other governmental regulations. That’s why it took a bit longer to come up with the route. But now it’s time to finally share my route from Australia to Germany with you.

Original Idea

Originally I wanted to ship the car from Australia to Singapore and then drive through Malaysia. Possibly Vietnam, then Thailand, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey and enter Europe from there. I love South East Asia! And there are still quite some places left there that I haven’t been to. However, my visa agent gave me the advice that this is probably not the best route for two reasons. He’s known of several cases of travelers being denied entry into Myanmar with their cars despite having valid visas and all the necessary paperwork. The second reason was Pakistan. Driving through a large parts of Pakistan requires police assistance. And who wants to explore a country being escorted by several police cars? That’s why my original plan needed to be revisited.

The Southern Route Became the Northern Route

I revised the route completely and won’t drive through any of the originally planned countries anymore. That, however, leaves room for new countries. That’s why the car is being shipped to Vladivostok now. From there I will drive through Russia, Mongolia, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, possibly Uzbekistan. Then I will cross the Caspian Sea by ferry and head through Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia to continue on to Turkey. If I have enough time I’d like to make a quick stop in Athens. Standing on the Acropolis has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager. Crossing South Eastern Europe I will head back to Frankfurt. I’m very excited for all these places along the trip on this route!

Car Shipping

Shortly after my arrival in Australia I was surprised by bad news via email. My forwarder told me, that the vessel that was booked for my car would be delayed by one week. This new arrival date in Russia wouldn’t have matched the dates of my visa that I had received back in Germany. My visa is valid for exactly 30 days, which would have cut it very tight. So my forwarder suggested shipping the car earlier than planned. That way it would definitely be in Vladivostok on time. Big thanks to Daniel and the whole team at CollesYoung. Disadvantage: I won’t have that much time for longer tours here in Australia. Oh well.

The Landcruiser Disappears – Container Loading

During the loading process the landcruiser was measures, driven in front of a container and then pushed in. It was safely tied to the wooden panels on the container floor. Finally, the batteries were disconnected. After 2.5h I could the sealed doors of the container. Thanks to Bill and SQS Haulage for a perfect job! Btw, there are only 20cm on each side between the car and the container wall…

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My Travel Plans in the Meantime

Skyline of Brisbane

What will I do while the car is on the ocean? I will not board the ship together with the landcruiser. That’s usually not possible for container ships anyway. My plan is to stay in Brisbane for a few more days. After that, I’d like to explore Tonga and Fiji since it’s not that far from here anymore. Maybe the Philippines… There will be plenty to tell you and a lot of things to take pictures of in the mean time. 🙂 Where exactly I am you can of course always see on here “Where is Ruedi?” In the beginning of June I will pick up the landcruiser in Russia and the long drive will finally start!

I will see a lot of places on this trip. Have any of you been to any of the countries that I will drive through? If so, I’d love to hear your experiences and would be grateful for any tips in the comments or as a private message. 🙂 Until then..